Them=Us

Harmony Movement’s travelling exhibition of photographs and words, which captures the story of Canadian diversity still continues to tour across the country four years later. Them=Us: Photographic Journeys Across Our Cultural Boundaries has been impressing audiences across Canada and helping people reflect on diversity issues.

This project began as an undertaking of Harmony Movement with the participation of Toronto-based group PhotoSensitive and photographers across the country. Members of the exhibition include award-winning Canadian photojournalists Andrew Stawicki and Patti Gower, photographers Tony Hauser and Yuri Dojc as well as photo-based artists Chick Rice and David Neel.

The visual stories unearthed by Them=Us range from simple tales of multicultural dinner parties to visits with residents of Baffin Island as they prepared for the coming of the new territory of Nunavut.

The stories behind the photographs form an essential part of the exhibition: tales such as that of Roya Movafegh, who turns her camera over to a young First Nation’s child so that his voice could also be part of her journey, and that of Paul Wong, whose return to the Chinese cafes in which he grew up prompted a highly emotional encounter.

Them=Us was curated and designed by Vancouver-based artist and curator Tom Graff. Graff is renowned for both his work at museums across Canada and the Canada Pavillion at Expo ‘86, and for performance art and installations around the world.

The exhibition is available for viewing in your community. Contact info@harmony.ca for further information.

The Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies (CASHRA) used the photo exhibit at their 2008 annual conference.